As the story continued to develop, the coup in Russia was being played out in the streets of Moscow. Since all Soviet news sources had been effectively shut down, it was difficult to get a true picture of what exactly was going on, apart from spotty reports and eyewitness accounts. Protests spread throughout the country, and there was a rising tide of resistance to this attempted overthrow even within the ranks of the Soviet Army.

Here is a BBC World Service report on the first 24 hours of the coup, as it was presented on the morning of August 20, 1991.

(The Berlin Wall - so after 28 years of grief, death and terror, it's over in a few minutes.)

With the relaxation on travel restrictions between East and West Germany, it was only a matter of time before the wall dividing the two Berlins became impractical and a relic of the Cold War. But the speed with which the change occurred took the rest of the world by surprise. As the day wore on and as reports came in as fast as they happened, it was slowly becoming apparent to the rest of the world that the Iron Curtain indeed was evaporating.

Mike Pulsiver (CBS News): "Witnesses are quoted as saying they have seen East German soldiers dismantling a section of the Berlin Wall as an incredible story keeps unfolding at breakneck speed."

The irony was, after so many years of a seemingly impregnable wall dividing the city and the endless attempts to escape to the West and the loss of life that happened during those attempts, the fact that the wall came down so quickly seemed ironic and in some ways strange. But the people of Berlin seized the moment and it became one huge party. The past was gone and there was no turning back.

As a bonus for our German friends, or those of you who want to brush up on your German, I've included a several news reports from German Radio from November 9-11, 1989. They are separated by a few seconds of silence between cuts.

The clips go as follows:

1. Press Conference with Gunter Schabowski, DDR

2. Radio report

3. Radio DDR – 3 am news

4. Berlin Radio

5. SFB Radio – 8 am news

6. Comments by Walter Momper from Bonn

7. Jugenradio DT 64 – News 5pm.

8. Willy Brandt address

9. Address by Egon Krenz

(East German refugee in 1989 - Giddy relief mixed with nightsticks)

In what would eventually be the collapse of the Soviet Union and the former Eastern Bloc in general, the exodus from East Germany started hot on the heels of news that Hungary had decided to open its borders to Austria, allowing some 60,000 the opportunity to migrate West.

The floodgates opened and soon highways and embassies were jammed with East Germans, heading West.

John Holland (CBS News): “ The latest report is around 250 people approached the back fence of the West German Embassy which has been cordoned off by barricades and guarded by police. But when police saw the numbers of people coming the simply let them pass and they climbed over the back fence into the embassy, adding to the estimated 5,000 East German refugees believed to be in the embassy compound. West German Red Cross officials at this hour are saying that they cannot any longer accommodate new arrivals, but West German embassy sources say they are still coming in and place is still being made. And in some cases the embassy employees are giving up their offices in order to shelter refugees.”

The beginning of October was just the tip of the iceberg.